Garment hanger



L. M. MARBL 'GARMENT HANGER Nov. 19,, 1940 Filed Dec. 19, 1939 W a M. M W L w KP. MCQW Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GARMENT HANGER Application December 19, 1939, Serial No. 310,072

6 Claims.

This invention relates to garment hangers; and it comprses a garment hanger of the coat hanger type provided with a shoulder bar of Wood, fiber or plastic or the like and reinforcement preferably below the top edge, said reinforcement being advantageously secured by providing a kerf, deepgroove or slotted opening in the lower side of the bar and securing suitable mlaterial, such as ply Wood, metal or a synthetic molded plastic composition or the like in the kerf, the reinforcing material sometimes advantageously forming the extreme ends or other portions of the bar; :all as more fully hereinafter set forth and as claimed.

Garment hangers made of wood have many qualities which make them Superior to and more desirable than hangers made of wire or the like. Among these qualities are appearance, feel, ease of manipulation, lightness in Weight, strength, durability and the fact that Wood can be cut and trimlmed to provide a form fitting hanging surface adaptable for supporting different garments. A wooden hanger may be finished to show the natural gran or beauty of the Wood or it may be enameled and colored. It is pleasing to the touch and convenient to use because, compared with a Wire hanger, its size enables securing a better grip for manipulation during its application to a garment.

Wooden hangers of pl'ain design embodying simply a uniform, gently curved shoulder bar are strong and durable, i. e. they do not bend as do wire han'gers or break with use, but they are more expensive to manufacture for the reason that select grades of Wood must be used and the hanger must be cut from the Wood in a certain way to secure correct running of the grain and minimize breakage and splitting. The more curved the shoulder bar, the greater the expense `and care necessary in selecting the Wood and Working it into Shape. A most desirable form or design of Wooden hanger is one in which the shoulder bar is of a curved bracket shape, i. e. each half of the bar extending from the center supporting hook outwardly is of a fiattened, horiontal S shaped curve with the joint at the center slightly enlarged and extending upwardly while the extreme ends of the bar curve downwardly. Such a bar is most convenient to use, since the ends of the bar will readily locate and enter the sleeves of a garment and the hanger as a whole supports the garment naturally with- Vout straining the stitching or fabric. In other words, the shape of the hanger bar is made to closely resemble the neck and shoulder curves of the wearer of the garment.

A difficulty in the manufacture of curved shoulder bar wooden hangers is that it is impossible to prevent the grain of the Wood from crossing the narrow dmension of the hanger bar at one or more points as at the curves and if the bar Strikes something sharply, as by dropping to the floor, it is apt to break along the grain. Also the bar is likely to be broken in m'anufacture, or at any time that it is subjected to a force transverse to the grain of the Wood.

A further disadvantage in connection with the manufacture and use of Wood garment hangers is that if it is desired to notch the arms of the hanger for reception of garment shoulder straps, the hanger is materially weakened at the notch.

In the construction of garment hanger of the present invention the above disadvantages are eliminated, and a Wood or fiber hanger provided which may be of any suitable Shape or design without sacrificing strength or increasing the cost of manufacture. The advantages of the present invention are accomplished by the provision of suitable reinforcing means such as ply Wood or molded plastic at points of weakness orr the hanger bar, the reinforcing members being advantageously located below the top surface of the hanger on which the garment rests, so as not to nterfere with the continuity of such surface and being secured to the bar by cementing or the like. Preferably a deep kerf or slot is cut with a circular saw or similar tool in the lower or bottom face of the hanger and the reinforcing material secured in the kerf. The reinforcing material may be secured in position while the hanger is in a rough stage of manufacture so that final Shaping and finishing Operations may be carried on Without danger of breaking the hanger. With the reinforcing material in place in the bar, a deep notch for garment shoulder straps can be provided. If desired the reinforcing material may extend beyond the point of reinforcement and itself form ends or other portions of the bar.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein for purposes of illustration there are shown several forms of a specific embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section of one form of garment hanger;

Fig. 2 is a Vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1 in the direction of the -arrows;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of a modified form of garment hanger;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view of the hanger shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the reinforcing memtber of the hanger shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a Vertical sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 7 is a detail fragmentary View in front elevation of a still further modified form of garment hanger.

Referring to the drawing, wherein like numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several Views, the numeral 8 indicates the bar of 'the hanger which is curved to conform to the curvature of the neck and Shoulders of a coat or jacket. As shown, the two halves of the bar extending from the center supporting hook outwardly are identical in curvature. The curvature of each half may be described to be that of a fiat- 'tened S shaped curve turned on its side with the junction of the two halves of the bar at the center supporting hool: or cusp of the curves being slightly enlarged, while the extreme ends of the bar curve downwardly. The shape of the bar in Figs. l, 3 and 7 are, for the purpose of illustration, substantially identical so that the above description will suflice for all three. The hanger bar may of, course be made of two separate halves joined together at the center hook but a neater and probablystronger bar is one in which the bar is formed of a single piece of material without the joint.

Referring specifically to Figs. l and 2 the bar is formed of relatvely thin, fiat Wood cut from a board in the shape above described. To give strength at the supporting hook 9, it is usually arranged to have the grain of the Wood run longitudinally of the bar. This results in a weakened shoulder portion lil on each side arm due to the grain of the wood running diagonally across the downwardly curving bar at this point. In accordance with the present invention the bar is strengthened at the cui'ves by means of a flat insert of ply Wood i i cemented or glued in a round bottomed kerf formed in the lower face of the bar as at 32. A satisfactory ply-wood for this purpose may consist of three layers of Wood as shown, cemented together1 with the grain of the Wood in each layer disposed at 90 degrees to the grain of the wood in the next adjacent layer. Different Woods may be usedl for ornamental value, strength or the like, or the reinforcing material may consist of a single ply or thickness of Wood with the gran running across the grain of the Wood of the hanger. As shown, the reinforcing insert is curved to conform to the bottom of the kerf and its outer edge trirnmed to the curvature of the bottom edge of the bar. It is desirable to have the reinforcing material eXtend from the bottom edge of the bar to within relativelg,7 close proximity of the top edge of the bar for strength, but it should not prefcrably form any part of 'the bar top edge. This construction avods rupture of the top edge of the bar which might result in rcughness or slivering. It is most desirable that all surfaces of the hanger which contact the garmer't be perfectly smooth, so that the garrnent may slide on and off the hanger easily and Without danger of damaging such as tearing or snagging threads of the garment. should the reinforcing material extend through the bar to the top edge or be attached to the bar at the top edge, the joint should be perfectly smooth and the exposed, portion of the reinforcing material smoothed and rounded; The thickness of the insert member as shown in Fig. 2 may be approximately one third to one half the thickness of rthe hanger bar and is preferably located in the center of the bar between the two side edges or faces. So constructed, the reinforcement is not visible to the casual user of the hanger and can only be discovered by inverting the hanger and examining its bottom edge.

The hanger illustrated in Fig, 3 is of the same construction as that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 with the exception that the reinforcing member here designated by the numeral i3 projects beyond the lower edge of the hanger bar, as at |4. This construction permits notching the upper face or edge of the bar as at l5 to accommodate garments provided simply with shoulder straps. The straps of the garments are of course inserted in the notched portions of the bar and, if desired, a Jacket with sleeves may also be hung on the bar. With a notch of the type shown, the shape of the reinforcing member may be as illustrated at IB in Fig. 5. Since in this modification the reinforcing material is readily visible it can be made of any strong ornamental material such as a molded Synthetic plastic of the phenol-formaldehyde, or urea-formaldehyde type, or it may be of metal or Wood coated or enameled. In this modification as in Vthe hanger shown in Fig. 1, the reinforcing member does not extend to the top edge of the bar.

In Fig. 7 is shown one side or arm of a hanger embodying another modification of the invention. Here the curved shoulder end portions of the bar 8 are formed of the reinforcing material alone. The wooden neck portion of the bar terminates at Il, where it joins with the reinforcing member l8. The ends of the neck portion are reinforced for a portion of length by the provision of a circular bottomed kerf cut in the end and bottom edges of the bar and in which the reinforcing member is cemented.

For this purpose the rinforcing member, which may be notched for garment straps as at l9 is provided With a complementary end fitting in the kerf, as shown in dotted lines at 2B. To provide strength, lightness and ornamental value, the reinforcing material is. preferably but not necessarily made of a clear or colored synthetio plastic composition material.

The supporting hook for the hanger may be of the usual type secured to the hanger by passing the long straight end of the hook through an opening 22 (Fig. 4) in the center of the hanger bar and upsetting it as at 23 to prevent removal.

What I claim is:

l. In a garment hanger, a curved wooden garment supporting bar having central and shoulder portions, with the curvature crossing the grain of the wood at the shoulder portions, each shoulder portion being provided with a slot extending up from below to a point below the upper surface of the bar and. terminating at points intermediate the end and the center of the bar, and stiif reinforcing inserts secured within said slots; said bar and inserts being slotted laterally to accommodate shoulder straps.

2. The matter of claim 6 wherein the reinforcing inserts and the bar are slotted laterally to accommodate garment shoulder straps and the reinforcing inserts extend below the lower surface of the bar.

3. The matter of claim 6 wherein the recesses are circular saw-kerfs, and the upper contour of the inserts is a segment of a circle.

4. 'I'he matter of clam 6 wherein the rein- .forcing inserts are fiat wooden members, the grain of which at least in part is disposed across the grain of the bar.

5. The matter of claim 6 Wherein the reinforcing inserts are of Sheet Synthetic plastic.

6. In a garrnent hanger a eurved Wooden garment supporting bar With the curvature thereof crossing the grain of the Wood in regions 10 adjacent the shoulder portions of the hanger.

the bar being provided with recesses in said regions, -extendng upwardly from the lower surface of the bar and terminating at a point below the upper su-rface' thereof and at points short of the ends and middle of the hanger, and stiff reinforcng inserts seeured Within said recesses whereby said shoulder regions of the bar where the curvature crosses the Wood are strengthened.

LOUIS M. MARBLE. 

